Keith Rabois

Keith Rabois (born March 17, 1969) is an American technology executive and investor. He is widely known for his early-stage startup investments and his executive roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide and Square. Rabois invested in Yelp and Xoom prior to each company's initial public offering ("IPO") and sits on both companies' boards of directors.[1][2] He is considered a member of the PayPal Mafia, a group that includes PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel, Max Levchin and Elon Musk.[3][4][5]

Keith Rabois
Born (1969-03-17) March 17, 1969
Edison, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materStanford University (BA)
Harvard Law School (JD)
OccupationEntrepreneur, Investor, Lawyer
Known forPayPal, LinkedIn, Square, Yelp, Xoom, YouTube, Yammer, Palantir, Lyft, AirBnB, Eventbrite and Quora.

Early life and education

Rabois was born on March 17, 1969 and raised in Edison, New Jersey.[6] Rabois studied political science as an undergraduate at Stanford University, receiving his B.A. in 1991 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1994.[7] While at Stanford, he became acquainted with Peter Thiel, then-editor and co-founder of The Stanford Review. Rabois later contributed to the libertarian newspaper.[8] Rabois was one of several students reprimanded for shouting homophobic slurs outside an instructor's home, including the suggestion that the instructor "die of AIDS." Rabois stated that the incident was designed to challenge Stanford's rules on student speech.[9][10][11] Thiel later defended Rabois in his book, The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and Political Intolerance on Campus.[12]

He clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and worked at Sullivan & Cromwell.[13]

Business career

PayPal

Rabois served as Executive Vice President, Business Development, Public Affairs, and Policy at PayPal from November 2000 to November 2002.[14]

LinkedIn

Between January 2005 and May 2007, Rabois worked at LinkedIn, a social network and job aggregator for working professionals, as its Vice President for Business and Corporate Development.[14] LinkedIn was founded by Reid Hoffman, also a former employee at PayPal and a member of the PayPal Mafia.

Slide

Between May 2007 and August 2010, Rabois worked for Slide, a company headed by Max Levchin that focused on slideshows and animations in social networks.[14] Levchin, one of the co-founders of PayPal, knew Rabois from their time together at PayPal. Rabois left Slide around the time that the company was sold to Google.

Square

In 2010, Rabois joined Square, a company that provides an electronic payment service, as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).[4][14] He left Square in January, 2013 due to the threat of a lawsuit over sexual harassment claims by an employee who obtained a job at Square after beginning a relationship with Rabois.[10][15][16][17]

Khosla Ventures

In March 2013, Rabois joined venture capital firm Khosla Ventures.[18][19]

Scribd

In January 2015, Rabois joined the board of directors of Scribd after Khosla Ventures led a new investment round in the company.

Opendoor

In April 2014, Rabois co-founded Opendoor, a home buying and selling marketplace.[20]

Alliance of American Football

In March 2018, Rabois invested in the Alliance of American Football, along with Peter Thiel and Peter Chernin. He sat on the league's board of directors.[21]

Politics

In April 2013, a lobbying group called FWD.us was launched, with Rabois listed as one of a major contributor on the group's website.[22] Rabois was also listed as a Republican delegate from California during the 2016 Republican National Convention.[23] In January 2020, Rabois stated that he would rather vote for Donald Trump than Bernie Sanders [24]

See also

References
  1. "Xoom:Management:Executive Officers and Directors". 2013-01-11.
  2. "Yelp:Management:Executive Officers and Directors". 2011-11-17.
  3. "Meet the PayPal mafia".
  4. latimes.com
  5. gigaom.com
  6. "Keith Rabois: Did you really grow up in Edison, NJ?".
  7. "Keith Rabois - CrunchBase".
  8. "Masters of Their Domain". Mother Jones.
  9. "Officials condemn homophobic incident; no prosecution planned". 1992-02-12.
  10. "Keith Rabois, COO Of Square, Resigns After Relationship With Employee, Harassment Allegations". 2013-01-26.
  11. Packer, George. "No Death, No Taxes: The libertarian futurism of a Silicon Valley billionaire". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  12. Trotter, J. K. "The Free Speech Peter Thiel Will Defend: "Faggot! Faggot! Hope You Die of AIDS!"". Gawker. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  13. Lunch Talk with Keith Rabois on a Career in Law, Startups and Venture Capital
  14. "Keith Rabois' LinkedIn page".
  15. "A note from Keith". 2013-01-25. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28.
  16. "Interview: Keith Rabois Talks About Sexual Harassment Claim, Becoming a "Distraction" at Square and What's Next". 2013-01-25.
  17. "Keith Rabois Is Silicon Valley's Hottest Commodity Right Now", SFGate, February 23, 2013
  18. "Former Square COO Keith Rabois Joins Khosla Ventures". 2013-02-26.
  19. "Keith Rabois on Khosla Ventures website". Archived from the original on 2013-07-25.
  20. "Khosla Ventures' Keith Rabois finally launches his real estate startup". 2014-04-03.
  21. Balakrishnan, Sara Salinas, Anita (20 March 2018). "Peter Thiel's venture firm is backing a new football league to rival the NFL". CNBC. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  22. "Our supporters". FWD.us. Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  23. Holmes, David (2016-05-11). "Don't Be Too Surprised That Peter Thiel Is A Trump Delegate". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  24. "NY Times:Silicon Valley Leaders' Plea to Democrats: Anyone but Sanders".
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